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It's safe to assume that I am the tech support guy in my house. I am responsible for each device that has a remote, a circuit board, or a processor. Somehow, I am even responsible for our uptime with Verizon FIOS and if our Wii Remotes have run out of batteries! I accept this, since I am the resident geek. What I can't accept is being the "Bad Dad."

The "Bad Dad" is the guy who is responsible for the family pictures and their safekeeping and doesn't back them up. The "Bad Dad" is the guy who has to look his wife in the eye and tell her that the Disneyland pictures are lost because of a power surge. The "Bad Dad" accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop at breakfast and lost his daughter's iTunes music. The "Bad Dad" can't find the video of his grandchild's first bike ride. You get the idea.

Our memories are becoming more and more digitized with photos, music and video. They are typically stored on your computer. It's important to back them up. We could show study after study of how often hard drives fail, but they don't mean anything to the person who has just lost their vacation photos.

A good backup plan is inexpensive. It's safe, secure, and reliable. It works automatically, so that you don't have to manually intervene. A good backup doesn't care how much data you store in it, becuase it knows that tomorrow you'll have more.

I use Mozy. It costs about $55/year. It's encrypted. It backs up my files at least twice a day. It's unlimited for the home user. It helps me avoid being a "Bad Dad."